Ukraine’s top negotiator in Miami for talks, source says

KYIV: Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has arrived in Miami for a meeting with US representatives, a source said, as peace talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine have stalled in recent months.
Kyiv hoped US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Ukraine earlier this spring, but the visit never happened. Washington’s focus has largely moved ‌away from Ukraine amid ‌the war in Iran.
The source ‌did ⁠not provide additional ⁠details. The US-brokered talks are deadlocked over Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Moscow demands Kyiv pull troops back from parts of the region it has failed to capture in its four-year full-scale invasion. Ukraine says it will not cede ⁠land that it controls.
The last round ‌of trilateral Ukraine-Russia talks ‌involving US representatives took place in February. Ukrainian and Russian ‌representatives have only had separate talks ‌with the US team since.
US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a call on April 29 discussing a potential ceasefire.
Russia announced a ‌ceasefire for May 8 to 9, when it celebrates the Soviet Union’s ⁠victory over ⁠Nazi Germany and holds a military parade in Moscow, an event of high significance for the Kremlin.
Ukraine said Russia only wanted a ceasefire to protect its parade, as it worries about Ukrainian drone attacks, and offered an open-ended ceasefire starting on May 6.
Neither side agreed to the proposals. Russia threatened to strike central Kyiv if Ukraine attacked Moscow. Kyiv accused Russia of violating the ceasefire, saying it would mirror Russia’s actions.